Colic remains a significant issue for little ones, affecting up to 30% of infants in the first 3 months of their life. Natalie Lamb, Nutritional Therapist for the new probiotic designed specifically for infants, Bio-Kult Infantis, is on hand with her top tips to help tackle the symptoms of colic, naturally.
Parenting on Female First
- It is advisable to speak with a breastfeeding advisor regarding correct feeding techniques for your little one. This can include making sure they are calm before feeding, keeping your baby's head higher than their stomach, taking care not to distract them during feeding by stroking or tapping them so they can fully focus on digestion, and breaking feeds after 10 minutes to wind before returning to an alternate breast.
- Why not try using a variety of burping techniques, and continue until relief is seen.
- When breastfeeding, you may want to look at your diet to observe if any foods you are eating could be causing digestive issues for your baby. Common irritants are caffeine, chocolate, dairy, wheat, spicy foods, FODMAP vegetables, alcohol, smoking and any other known food allergens. I would advise soaking legumes before cooking, and consuming easy to digest soups and stews as well as some fermented vegetables.
- The gut flora appears to be imbalanced in infants when suffering from colic, who often have fewer levels of beneficial Lactobacilli bacteria which produce much less gas than potential pathogens. Probiotics could help to tackle this issue, when taken during pregnancy or when breastfeeding, or when given directly to your baby. I would recommend trying Bio-Kult during and after pregnancy, and the new Bio-Kult Infantis for your little one from birth. A recent study demonstrated that Bio-Kult Infantis helped to reduce average daily crying time by at least half for 82% of infants who were suffering from colic in the study, while 39% experienced a resolution of symptoms.
- If you are bottle feeding, your health care advisor may suggest an alternative to cow's milk, such as goat's milk.
- Traditional antispasmodic herbs such as chamomile, liquorice, fennel and lemon balm could be useful addition to teas if you are breastfeeding.
- A little peppermint and fennel tea given in the baby's bottle or via drops is also said to help move the trapped wind.
- Alternative therapies to consider include cranial sacral therapy, especially if the birth process was difficult. Acupuncture or a chiropractor could to help realign the spine or ribs which could be squashing the gut.